Promise Rings
by LilyGhost
Summary: Joe turns up to offer a little friendly support, but soon learns that Stephanie already has everything she's ever needed.


**This story is the result of characters I borrowed from Janet and a storyline I stole from one of my other stories. The mistakes are mine alone.**

I had my hair done. The dress I've chosen to wear is highlighting a few of my best assets. And the new FMPs I bought last week are currently pinching my feet, but they're worth the pain because they made my legs look even better. And the dinner that had been delivered five minutes ago was just about to hit the table. The only thing wrong with this picture is there's someone ringing the doorbell and I'm not expecting anyone else tonight.

I have an actual doorbell now. My old apartment, with the even older neighbors, is history. I had moved into a house still in Trenton, but in a better section of it where grass is rumored to grow and the air feels breathable.

I looked around at the pale-colored walls and hardwood floors as I tried to figure out who was choosing now to bug me. I was in the process of running through a mental list of names and the bell rang again. _Dammit_. One thing that definitely hasn't changed, _nothing _I plan goes off without at least one hitch. And I opened the door to what used to be the biggest hitch in my life.

"Joe? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

"Why?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, not inviting him inside.

He frowned slightly at my less than welcoming posture and question.

"You know I care about you, and I haven't seen you in a while ..."

"Let me guess, you just broke up with someone."

"It's not like that."

Yeah, right. The only time my exes ever seek me out is when they're hoping for an 'old times' sake' roll in the hay.

"I hope not. I'd hate to think that your only interest in me is my sexual availability, which by the way is _not _available to you."

He took a step forward and stupid me thought he was going to touch or kiss me, so I took a giant step back. And that gave him the access he needed to the house. He slipped passed me, closed the door, and walked further inside until he reached the staircase at the end of the foyer. This isn't going to end well.

"Joe ..."

"Relax, Steph. I'm not here for anything except to talk to you. "

"Well ... you have. And I'm good. I promise. It's nice to see you, but I've got plans."

He did a full body scan of my outfit, and I could tell that his interest in me could be rekindled if I was so inclined_. I wasn't._

"Does the nutcase know about these 'plans'?" He asked. "It's no secret that he left town and hasn't been seen since."

"So you were lying about just checking on a friend. You're here looking for a story, aren't you?"

"No. I don't like the fact that you've become the talk of the Burg."

I snorted. "When _haven't _I been at the center of a Burg scandal? They can't say anything that I haven't already heard."

"They think Manoso got you away from me, then got away from you. And left you this house as a form of compensation for all the time and trouble."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Like I was a job he was required to complete before moving on?"

"Something to that effect."

"And you're here because you believe that? And you think ... _what_? That I either need a little friendly advice or a shoulder to cry on?"

"I know from personal experience that you're a hard woman to walk away from, so why isn't he here if you're still together? And why haven't you gotten married if you were seriously considering it? You've told everyone that the two of you are engaged, but you're still single. And he's gone ... _again_. When we broke up, you said that you kept putting off marrying me because you really didn't want to."

"I didn't. And this is different."

"How so?"

"It's not any of your business anymore, but I'm going to believe that you are here because you care about me. The actual date of our wedding is an ongoing joke between Ranger and I. He asks me to marry him periodically, I say yes every time he does, and then he gives me another ring and tells me that when my finger is filled up to the knuckle, I have to marry him. So the size of the ring, and the frequency in which he gives them to me, is an indication as to when he's ready to tie the knot himself." I held up my left hand for him to see the stacked rings. "How much room do you see left?" I asked Morelli.

I was sporting the original, impressively large, square diamond on a thin diamond-covered band, but over the last year, Ranger has added more rings to it. I now have four additional diamond pave bands; one with white gold surrounding each of the small stones, another had tiny cuts of my birthstone in between the diamonds, the next one looks identical to the band on my first engagement ring, and the last one had slightly larger 'rocks' circling my finger. They're all made from the same materials so they went surprisingly well with each other. I think that has become part of the fun for Ranger ... the continuous hunt for the next one that will complement my growing collection.

"Not a lot," Joe answered finally, not taking his eyes off my hand.

It's a good thing I had a manicure recently or I would've felt a little self conscious at his unwavering stare.

"_Exactly_. A date could possibly be decided on tonight, but I'm standing here talking to you about Burg rumors instead."

"His presence doesn't affect what we do, Babe," Ranger said to me, coming down the stairs.

Tank had picked him up wherever he'd landed and dropped him off here a few hours ago as a surprise for me. I'd take _that _kind of present over a ring any day. He'd been gone almost a month this time. It was the longest separation we've gone through since we've been together. And Morelli is taking up some of our long overdue alone time.

"Joe, you remember Ranger, don't you?"

I stopped caring about what other people think of me, but anyone questioning Ranger's character pisses me off. My old neighborhood thinking that he'd go back on his word, or break a promise that big to me, made me beyond angry.

"He remembers," Ranger said, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into him. "Your concern, Morelli - while touching - isn't warranted. I wouldn't leave Stephanie unless I had to. And she knows that I'll always come back to her if I do."

"If any of them had the balls to ask me directly," I told Morelli, "I would've assured them that Ranger and I are still very much engaged, are still planning on getting married, and I'd go one-on-one with a Bible just so they'd get that I would only live in this house if he was with me in it."

It is a beautiful place inside and out. It has four bedrooms - one for us, one for Julie, and the other two used as offices. It included two-and-a-half baths so we could both get ready simultaneously for date nights like this one. There's a two car garage just so I wouldn't have to chip ice or knock snow off my car in the winter. Not to mention, there's also a two-story stone entryway that framed the front door, tons of windows that can't be shot through, and all the amenities and guarantees Ranger thought were more important than the pretty gray siding and stone exterior that I'd fallen in love with.

But even with all of that, I knew if Ranger ever did try to leave this place to me as some sort of payoff, I'd never stay in it. I'd sell the thing and take the money from it and buy property somewhere warmer and sandier than Trenton. And then I'd send him pictures of me with various 'pool boys' as payback. He knows it, too. Maybe that's why he's never once shown any desire to _leave _me, only limitless desire _for _me. It's also possible that there's no other reason why he's here except that he loves me.

"Same here, Babe," Ranger told me, validating my internal thoughts on our home as he kissed the top of my head.

"I should go," Morelli said to us.

"I really appreciate you looking out for me, Joe, but you don't have to anymore."

"She's in good hands," Ranger added.

Joe's whiskey-colored eyes narrowed at him, but he couldn't be sure if that was a low blow or a statement of fact. Knowing Ranger ... it was both.

Morelli let himself out, and when the door closed behind him the arm still around me tightened like a vise. I found myself in one heck of a lip-lock before he let me go to check out my appearance.

"You really are a beautiful woman," he told me.

I smiled up at him. "I'm glad you think so since I'm yours tonight."

"Before or after dinner?"

"Before, after, or during. I'm _flexible_," I whispered against his ear.

His eyes dilated black and I could feel them searing my skin as I pulled away from him, heading towards the kitchen to get the food from cartons to actual plates this time. Since I _have _been working out more, mostly to keep the stress about disappearances like this at bay, I've been getting steadily stronger and more limber. During one long distance call, I may have mentioned what my body could probably do if only he was here to try it out on.

He caught my wrist before I'd made it more than two feet away from him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To the kitchen. We do have a meal planned, don't we?"

"Yes, but first things first." He slipped his free hand into the front pocket of his charcoal gray dress pants, and used the hand on my wrist to yank me close again. "I brought something back for you," he said against my mouth, then he pressed a quick kiss to it.

I drew my head back an inch so I could see his face. "Oh yeah? I wonder what it could be. Maybe another ring?"

"Could be. I can't disclose what country it was purchased in, but it's from somewhere overseas."

"Desert or jungle?"

"Babe."

"You knew I was going to ask."

"I did. And you know what _I'm _about to ask."

"Yep. And my answer is still a big 'ol _yes_. I will marry you."

I lifted my left hand for the second time so he could slide the newest ring onto it, but Ranger raised it to his mouth instead, brushing his lips over the knuckle above all the bling.

"Not this time," he informed me. "I'm putting this one on your finger tomorrow at the courthouse. I don't want that type of visit happening again."

"Joe won't come back here. And you have nothing to worry about even if he showed up every day for an entire year. He knows that all we can ever be is friends, and that I see only _your _face when I think of who I want to be with."

"That helps, but so will this," he said with a nod towards what I guess is going to be my wedding band.

"Does this mean I get to go ring shopping for you now?" I asked, smiling at the thought of putting a 'taken' symbol on _his _finger for a change.

"If you'd like," he told me, slipping a hand into my hair after he tucked the ring back into his pocket. "Or we can spend those hours doing something else together, and just use the one I picked up for myself when I bought this one."

Hmm ... jewelry shopping or a naked Ranger? Tough choice. I made up my mind pretty quick. Dinner will still be edible tomorrow and I started tugging him up the stairs. I've thought it in the past, and I'll swear to it until my dying day ... nothing - and I mean _nothing _\- beats a naked Ranger.


End file.
